It felt good to be flying again. He felt as though all his problems would go away as long as he could remain in the air. He soared above the pitch, watching his team, every now and then he'd pull the Feint. The robes looked great, and he promised to do something special for Mrs. Weasley for Christmas.

She had perfectly captured the essence of the Gryffindor lion, and they shone proudly from the backs of the team. On the right breast of each robe was the name of the player, and on the left, their position. Even the reservists had theirs done, with an "R" placed before the position.

Harry's was special. Above his position, Mrs. Weasley had sewn a "C," and he now looked at it proudly. Because of the angle of his head, and his position he had taken over the pitch, he was the only one who noticed a lone figure watching the team from the castle. Harry couldn't see who it was, and the figure must have noticed him, for he/she fled quickly. All Harry could make out was a billowing of black robes. He shook his head, dismissing it as fatigue-induced hallucinations, and decided to call practice for the night.

He pulled out his wand, "Sonorous. Okay team, that's enough for today. I don't think anyone can stand a chance against us this year. Quietus." He swooped down and joined his teammates in the locker room. Fred and George approached him.

"Hey Cap'n," they had taken to calling him this, apparently from a Muggle commercial they had stumbled across, "We were just wondering.uh." it wasn't like Fred to stumble over words. Harry just looked at him expectantly.

George let out a sigh, "We don't want you brooding over the Ravenclaw seeker. We need you to concentrate on the game."

"Cho? Brooding over her?" he was starting to get defensive.

"Yeah, we know you like her, mate." This from Ron, who was having trouble getting his undershirt over his head.

"We just don't want you distracted. You could get hurt," put in Colin.

"No, you don't want to lose!" Harry yelled. At Colin's reaction, his glare softened. "I'm sorry; I've been a little stressed lately. I promise I won't ogle her until AFTER the game. There, are you satisfied?" He looked at the rest of the team, who were beaming at him.

"Let's go get dinner, Cap'n." Fred slapped him on the back, eliciting a small wince, but they let it go.

The twelve players trudged into the Great Hall near the end of dinner, so there weren't many people. Draco Malfoy sat at his usual place at the Slytherin table, looking extremely bored as he "listened" to Pansy Parkinson. Harry gave him an infinitesimal nod, unnoticed by his teammates. Draco smirked, though he hid it by turning and pretending it was for something Pansy had said.

At the head table, Dumbledore chuckled as he watched the exchange, and then turned to Snape. He, too, had noticed the interaction of the two once- rivals, and was failing to hide a small smile on his face.

"Things are certainly looking up around here, aren't they Severus?"

"Indeed, Headmaster. I'd have never thought it possible, but those two may just grow to tolerate each other."

"Ah, I think it will go beyond that. You see, those two are destined to become great friends, and bring down the Dark Lord together." Severus nearly choked on his pumpkin juice.

"Excuse me? I thought I heard you say that Potter and Malfoy were to become friends? I think I need to go to the Hospital Wing."

Dumbledore chuckled harder at this. "If you are volunteering to pay Poppy a visit, you must be ill," the light twinkled in eyes. He looked back to Harry, who was ravenously devouring his food. He noticed the Headmaster's gaze, and grinned sheepishly. He finished quickly, then grabbed his bag and headed for the library. He missed a couple of classes and he had some make-up work to do. Hermione had even cancelled a "date" with Ron to help him.

He found her already seated at their usual table, and he smiled as he plopped down in the chair next to her.

"Alright, Herm, what did I miss?"

"Well, there are some classes I can't help you with, like Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms. Those are the classes we don't have together. But here is the Herbology homework, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures. Now that last one isn't too hard, but since Hagrid isn't here, don't expect it to be a blow off assignment." Hermione piled a few rolls of parchment on top of his bag, and he took the one she handed him.

He unrolled it an read, "Write a foot and a half on the proper care of Krenshar and why they are feared by humans." He looked up at Hermione, "Why they are feared? Could she have asked a more general question?"

"Come on, Harry, they're pretty interesting. I've already done mine, but I'll go get you the book I looked at for information." She jumped up and headed into the creature section. He unrolled the next parchment, from DADA.

"Explain the different types of defense spells, and why stacking defense spells is not recommended." He re-read it, then turned to Hermione, who had returned with a rather large book.

"Here you are Harry. What's wrong?"

"Professor McAdy didn't specify how long she wanted this report."

"I know, I found that odd as well. But she just said as long as it's well written and contains the pertinent information, she doesn't care how long it is." Hermione shrugged.

"Well, then I guess I can skip this one. You probably wrote enough for both of us," he grinned, and she punched him in the arm. He rubbed the "injury" and made a sad face. She just rolled her eyes and pulled her Advanced Transfiguration homework out of her bag.

Harry shook his head and unrolled the last parchment, from Herbology. He had a feeling he'd be having a little talk with Neville tonight. The two boys often stayed up after everyone went to bed. Harry would review Neville's potions reports and Neville would do the same for Harry's Herbology reports. They wouldn't really correct each other's homework, but they would point out errors and explain them. As a result, Neville's potions mark had improved a little, and Harry was doing loads better in Herbology. Harry had a feeling Professor Snape knew about their little tutoring sessions, but he never said anything.

Things returned to a state of normalcy over the next few weeks, and soon it was time to decide whether or not to stay for Christmas holidays.